Capitol News
State Supreme Court: Officials may, sometimes, use campaign funds for criminal defense
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that elected public officials and their campaign committees may, in limited circumstances, use campaign funds to pay criminal defense attorney fees. The case involved a former Chicago city alderman, Danny Solis, who reportedly avoided federal prosecution by agreeing to cooperate…
Lawmakers direct $2.7 billion in federal funds toward $4.5 billion unemployment fund deficit
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The House on Wednesday advanced a measure to allocate $2.7 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay down more than half of its outstanding $4.5 billion Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund debt. The measure, an amendment to Senate Bill 2803, also included over $1…
Bill would provide $500 tax credit to volunteer firefighters and EMS workers
By GRACE KINNICUTT Capitol News Illinois gkinnicutt@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Members of the Illinois Firefighters Association joined state legislators at a news conference Wednesday to outline a measure that they claim would recruit more long-term volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel by offering them a tax credit. Senate Bill 3027 would provide a $500 tax credit to…
Lawmakers, Department of Insurance focus on Blue Cross, Springfield Clinic controversy
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – An ongoing contract dispute between a major health insurance company and a large health care provider in Springfield is drawing the attention of both state lawmakers and the state Department of Insurance. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois has been under scrutiny since July after it…
Senate rejects Prisoner Review Board appointee
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Senate Executive Appointments Committee moved six appointees to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board through committee on Tuesday, but the only appointee of Gov. JB Pritzker that came for a vote before the full Senate was rejected. The 15-member Prisoner Review Board decides on the release…
State Supreme Court asked to define limits of river access
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to decide the extent to which property owners can block anyone else, including neighboring property owners, from accessing a river that runs through their property. It’s a question of law that Illinois courts have not fully addressed before and…
CAPITOL RECAP: State Supreme Court considering FOID constitutionality
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked for a second time to decide whether a state law requiring gun owners to have a firearm permit is unconstitutional – a question the court previously declined to answer. The case involves a White County resident, Vivian Claudine Brown, who was charged…
Pritzker announces initiative to improve children’s behavioral health services
By GRACE KINNICUTT Capitol News Illinois gkinnicutt@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker announced the launch of an initiative Friday to improve behavioral and mental health services for children. The Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative will help build a coordinated response between six state agencies in an effort to support children with behavioral health needs while…
DCFS director held in contempt for 7th time in 10 weeks
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For the seventh time in 10 weeks, a Cook County judge found Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith in contempt for failing to comply with a court order. DCFS was ordered by a judge in March 2021 to move a 16-year-old boy…
CAPITOL RECAP: Petition filing ends with crowded GOP field in governor’s race
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD – Seven teams of Republicans and one team of Democrats have lined up to challenge Gov. JB Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in the 2022 elections. Monday was the deadline for candidates to turn in their nominating petitions to the Illinois State Board of Elections to get their names…
CAPITOL RECAP: Petition filing ends with crowded GOP governor field
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD – Seven teams of Republicans and one team of Democrats have lined up to challenge Gov. JB Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in the 2022 elections. Monday was the deadline for candidates to turn in their nominating petitions to the Illinois State Board of Elections to get their names…
Analysis: What to expect in the Madigan trial – whenever it begins
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com It’s been two weeks since prosecutors indicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and a little over one week since he and alleged co-conspirator Michael McClain each entered not guilty pleas on charges including racketeering and bribery. While the 106-page, 22-count indictment was the culmination of years of…
State Supreme Court reviewing FOID law constitutionality
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked for a second time to decide whether a state law requiring gun owners to have a firearm permit is unconstitutional – a question the court previously declined to answer. The case involves a White County resident, Vivian Claudine Brown,…
Advocates push for wage subsidies for employees recently released from incarceration
By GRACE KINNICUTT Capitol News Illinois gkinnicutt@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Members of the Workers Center for Racial Justice held a rally in front of the Capitol Wednesday morning demanding the Illinois General Assembly pass the Safer Communities Act. The measure, House Bill 3215, offers job providers wage subsidies for hiring formerly incarcerated individuals at a living…
Pritzker pulls another Prisoner Review Board appointment, calls for Senate action
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Max Cerda was convicted of a double murder when he was 16 years old. Cerda received parole in 1998. He was 35 years old when he was released and began working with ex-offenders in Chicago to help them transition to life outside of prison. In March…
Crowded GOP field lines up to challenge Pritzker, Stratton
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Seven teams of Republicans and one team of Democrats have lined up to challenge Gov. JB Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in the 2022 elections. Monday was the deadline for candidates to turn in their nominating petitions to the Illinois State Board of Elections to…
Charges filed against man accused of abusing developmentally disabled woman at state-run facility
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A state employee charged last month with molesting a child now faces a charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a patient at the state-run Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna. Union County State’s Attorney Tyler Tripp charged former Choate mental health technician Charles…
Minority contractors line up against liability shift aiming to address wage theft
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A union-backed bill putting primary contractors on the hook for wage theft committed by their subcontractors is facing opposition in the General Assembly from minority contractor trade groups. The measure, House Bill 5412, makes primary contractors – those who contract directly with the customer – liable…
Republican senator urges bills preventing future health outbreaks get a proper hearing
By GRACE KINNICUTT Capitol News Illinois gkinnicutt@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The state failed to protect 36 veterans who died at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home during a COVID-19 outbreak that began in 2020, said a legislator who has introduced bills she said would ensure the agency has quicker and better responses in the future. Sen. Sue Rezin,…
Man accused of sexual misconduct with patient at state-run facility charged with child molestation in unrelated case
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A man charged last month with molesting a child had been receiving a paycheck from the state for more than a year while on administrative leave during a multi-agency investigation into allegations that he also sexually abused a developmentally disabled woman while working as a mental…
Mendoza urges automatic payments into ‘rainy day fund’
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is pushing legislation that would require the state to make automatic deposits into its so-called “rainy day fund” whenever certain financial conditions are met. Officially known as the Budget Stabilization Fund, it was created in 2001 as a reserve so the state…
Administrator of state-run developmentally disabled center accused of obstructing investigation
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Documents filed in a southern Illinois court this week allege a Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center senior staff member obstructed an Illinois State Police investigation into the abuse of a developmentally disabled patient by accessing confidential investigative files and directing staff to speak to the…
CAPITOL RECAP: Madigan pleads not guilty to 22 counts
By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD – Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and former lobbyist Michael McClain on Wednesday pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of racketeering, bribery, fraud and extortion. Both were arraigned on those charges during a teleconference hearing before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cole. The two men were charged March…
ISP director talks challenges facing the agency
By GRACE KINNICUTT Capitol News Illinois gkinnicutt@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly told a state violence prevention task force this week that expressway shootings, gun trafficking, trooper staffing levels and officer wellness are some of the biggest challenges facing the agency. According to the ISP expressway shootings dashboard, in 2021 there were…
Local News
Solarbration: Chicago Ridge celebrates fun in the sun
By Kelly White The sun is shining and after a long winter, Chicago Ridge residents ready for it. In honor of National Solar Appreciation Day, the Chicago Ridge Park District offered residents the opportunity to come out and celebrate with a Solarbration, the free event was held outside of Freedom Activity Center, 6252 Birmingham St.,…
Oak Lawn trustee says village needs state grocery tax
By Joe Boyle An Oak Lawn trustee said that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate the state’s grocery tax will be costly for the village. Trustee William “Bud” Stalker (5th), accompanied by Mayor Terry Vorderer, recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Springfield where they learned more about the governor’s proposal to eliminate the grocery…
Palos Heights recognizes volunteers
By Nuha Abdessalam Palos Heights handed out awards last week recognizing the services provided by volunteers through the years. The proclamations, which were read aloud during the city council meeting April 16, were a testament to the city’s volunteers and were handed out as part of Volunteer Recognition Week. Volunteers were cited for their efforts…
SD218 puts on annual Arts Extravaganza
By Kelly White The arts have become a major portion of the curriculum Community High School District 218. Showcasing those many talents, the Friends of CHSD 218’s Education Foundation proudly hosted its 15th annual Arts Extravaganza on April 5 at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island. “The Arts Extravaganza is a great event which showcases…
Palos Park passes $16 million budget
By Jeff Vorva The Palos Park Village Council approved the 2024-25 budget, which totals a little more than $16.3 million at the April 22 village council meeting. According to village documents, it represented an increase of a shade over $603,000 from last year. The village is expecting $13.4 million in revenue and $1.86 million in…
Fire damages Al Bahaar Restaurant in Orland Park
From staff reports Orland Fire Protection District firefighters responded to a fire Monday evening at the Al Bahaar Restaurant, 39 Orland Square Dr. At first, restaurant owners suspected the fire alarm was triggered by a malfunction, but as firefighters inspected the restaurant to reset the fire alarm, they detected a burning smell. “What we found…
‘Brazen and cowardly’: Police, community outraged by officer’s slaying
. By Tim Hadac Police and others across the Southwest Side reacted with outrage this week over the slaying of a Chicago Police officer in the early morning hours on Sunday. Officer Luis M. Huesca was shot to death on the street in the 3100 block of West 56th Street at 2:53 a.m. April 21.…
Pols want 63rd St. armory for new police HQ
. Porfirio, Guerrero-Cuellar push plan in Springfield . By Tim Hadac Any plans the Chicago Department of Aviation may have had for the vacant Army National Guard Midway Armory, 5400 W. 63rd St., may be grounded, at least for now. Several elected officials are eyeing the parcel as the headquarters of a new police district,…
Her back against the wall, Stacy needs help
. By Tim Hadac Editor Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound (708)-496-0265 . Clearing and Garfield Ridge have earned a reputation as a place where people look out for each other—and that sometimes means caring for each other in times of need. Today, I want to talk about one such person, who sure could use a boost…
It’s (pizza) party time at OLS
. Third graders at Our Lady of the Snows School break into cheers as they learn they’ve won a pizza party for selling more raffle booklets than any other class. The recent Grand Raffle fundraiser brought in about $6,000. Parents looking for a grade school for their sons and daughters for 2024-25 are welcome to…